making them shoot the same arrows

[possum]

OK, I enjoy making bows.  And I enjoy making arrows.  But I'd rather not have to make a new set of arrows for every bow I make.  So, please, help me find different ways to adjust my bows to all shoot the same arrows.  Granted, I make my bows all within @10# of each other.  The only thing I can think of is the arrow pass, making it wider or narrower.

Thanks,

possum

[JackCrafty]

Do you want to change your existing bows to fit one set of arrows?  Or do you want to begin building bows (of different designs) that all shoot the same arrow type?

[adb]

I have a few bows of similar poundage that'll shoot the same arrows, but for me, matching tackle is part of the fun! Just an excuse to make more stuff!
What I've found is: the closer to center shot the bow is, the more forgiving of various spine differences it is. Some of my more center shot longbows will shoot a wide variety of spine weights, but those bows without center shot are way more fussy.

[Pat B]

I made 2 bows to hunt with this year,..one a yew self bow with straight limbs(64"t/t) and the other is an osage static recurve(60"t/t), both about 48#@26". I shoot the same arrows from both bows.
  If your bows are similar draw weight your arrows should shoot similarly. Making arrows a few inches longer will help with different bows but only with similar draw weights.     Pat

[Hillbilly]

Making cane arrows helps, too-they seem to be more tolerant of a wider spine range and often tend to shoot well from a variety of bows.

[PeteDavis]

Hillbilly-

What kind of cane? My Tonkins shoot well from my centershot Super Kodiak, but they wag from a 55# LB I built that is cut 7/16ths from center. They are a tad stiff but hit real hard. What other cane is good and where would I get it? I need some shafts that are spined lower. But I love the cane.
PD

[Ranger B]

My arrows work pretty well but I have to change the point weight.  I've made several dozen arrows the same length but I range from 125 gr. points for one bow to 160 grains on another.  I also leave my arrows long.  It looks nice to put it all the way to the point but if you cut 4" of arrow off you lose a lot of weight.  I like them over 500 grains so the length helps out a lot.

[Hillbilly]

Pete, I like the native river/switch/hill cane. It has just enough taper to be more spine tolerant than many materials, especially if you do like Pat said and cut your shafts a couple-three inches longer than your drawlength. It grows throughout the Southeast and lower midwest. Tonkin makes good arrows, but it tends to be stiff.

[possum]

I have a few bows that are finished but I'm not above cutting in the shelf or widening the shelf them.  A few though I don't wanna touch.  I do use bamboo tomato stake arrows.  I can't imagine my bows being drastically different in draw weight.  I think I'll weigh them tomorrow.  Any suggestions on things to change on the bow?  My arrows are whatever length necessary to get the dynamic spine required.

possum

[GraemeK]

Hi Possum

The thing that gets you is that even if all your bows are the same draw weight and have the same sight window they will not shoot the arrow at the same speed because efficiency varies from bow to bow --- especially with all wooden bows where the material they are made from varies from tree to tree even if it is the same species and usually the physical dimensions are  also subtlely  different even when you try to make them the same.
So in the end there is no practical way to make an arrow of a particular dynamic spine work correctly in two bows unless you can get the draw weight and the arrow speed the same and the sight windows are similar.
The best compromise is to make your bows as center shot as possible as the more center shot they are the more tolerant they are of incorrect spine then use the largest fletches you can live with as this masks incorrect spine but It is questionable if this is a sensible approach since it makes a good bow work like a bad one.

Graeme

[George Tsoukalas]

In addition to the above, sometimes you can tweak by scraping the sight window a little bit. That will allow a stiffer spine. Not too much. Be careful. You can build it out a bit too for a weaker spined arrow.  Jawge

[Robert]

To build on what George was saying, it seems like you could pretty easily make an adjustable strikeplate that moves in and out via the turn of a screw or something.  If you cut the arrowpass a little bit beyond center-shot, and installed this adjustable strikeplate, it seems to me like you could shoot any arrow, from a crude sapling arrow to a cane arrow to a carbon arrow, just by tweaking the offset of the strikeplate.  The mechanism could be made more primitively by substituting leather spacers or something for the adjusting screw.

I was thinking about trying this on my next project, a laminated recurve with a big pistol-grip handle.  I realize this isn't exactly primitive, but I wonder if you guys think the concept is viable.

-Rob

[michbowguy]

all of above is very true...

but in reality you [we] tend to shoot each bow that we own or make a little differently.
one may be smoother so you may draw it back a little further...
one may stack a little more than the rest and you may not draw it back all the way and tend to "snap" shoot it, wich is a little less accurate...
one may be a little heavier in overall weight so you may have a better follow thru with it after the loose of the arrow.

lots of things can make different selfbows shoot differently, other than the obvious; that even two bows made from sister staves will have different shooting characteristics!

even if shot with a shooting machine these two bows will differ!

so i say dont sweat it!
take a couple of practice shots and take a mental note with your minds eye and go hunting!

really , unless you are wayyyy off target, wich i bet that you are not as you are obviously concerend with consistancy, im sure the differences are not all that noticable.

good luck.
jamie

[Hillbilly]

Another thing that makes arrows more inrterchangable is a shooting style with a heavily canted bow. I usually shoot with my bow almost horizontal, and it seems to give more spine tolerance.

[Mechslasher]

check to see if the nocking point on the string on both bows is the same.